Base wing commanders have new assignments

May 30, 2014

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE Both commanders of Minot Air Force Base's two wings will be leaving the base this summer for new assignments, base officials said.

No date has been announced yet for the change of command for Col. Alex Mezynski, commander of the 5th Bomb Wing.

The change of command for Col. Robert Vercher, commander of the 91st Missile Wing, will be June 24.

Their new assignments and the incoming commanders for each wing will be announced later.

Mezynski has been commander of the 5th Bomb Wing since January 2013. His responsibilities as bomb wing commander include providing combat-ready B-52H Stratofortress aircraft, crews and associated combat support for deterrence, crisis response, global power projection, major theater war and maritime operations and Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployments. He also is the installation commander.

Vercher leads more than 1,600 airmen in support of the nation's land-based intercontinental ballistic missile force to provide global deterrence and defending America with combat-ready ICBMs. The wing operates, maintains and secures 150 Minuteman III ICBMs, 15 missile alert facilities and 150 remote launch facilities in several counties surrounding Minot AFB. The wing also maintains and operates several UH-1N helicopters in support of missile field security.

The two Minot AFB wings are assigned to Air Force Global Strike Command.